At least six companies that have existing reclaimed properties in Cebu Province have already agreed to comply with the provincial law that orders them to give the Provincial Government a 10-percent share of these reclaimed lots.
Sugbo News learned that these include Cebu Industrial Park Developers Inc., Cebu South Harbor Container Terminal Corp., Dynacast Ship Building and Repair Inc., Global Business Power, Therma Visayas Inc., and Cebu South Port Infrastructure Corp.
Representatives of these firms met with the Gov. Gwen Garcia, together with the Cebu Provincial Reclamation Authority (CPRA) members, during a meeting at the Capitol on Thursday, May 4.
Under Provincial Ordinance No. 2022-09 (which amended PO No. 2009-02) any reclamation developer must turn over 10 percent of their reclaimed land to the Provincial Government in three ways: 1) 10 percent of the usable land; 2) monetary value of the reclaimed land, the value of which should be based on the zonal value, appraised value or the market value, whichever is higher; and 3) lot swapping wherein the land to be swapped should have the same zonal, appraised, or market value.
During the meeting, CPRA has also notified new reclamation developers in Cebu about this requirement. These firms, which have yet to decide on the matter, are Mabuhay Filcement Inc., Solid Earth Development Corp., Carmen Copper Corp., and Atlas Fertilizer.
CPRA is scheduled to meet again with these developers on June 5 for the expected presentation of the possible terms of this share agreement.
Subsequently, the firms are expected to sign an agreement with the Capitol for this necessary requirement under the Capitol’s reclamation ordinance.
Once implemented, this is expected to add all the more to the Provincial Government’s nationwide-leading assets which, according to a COA 2021 report, now stands at over P215 billion.
CPRA is the central authority in the province on matters that concern reclamation projects within its territorial jurisdiction. | Carlo Lorenciana